Image Courtesy- The Indian Express
Sumit Nagal was knocked out of the Olympics by Daniil Medvedev of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in the second round of tennis men’s singles in straight sets. With this, the Indian challenge in the tennis event of the Tokyo Olympics has ended. Nagal ranked 160th in the world rankings, lost to world number two Medvedev by a margin of 2-6, 1-6.
In this match, which lasted for one hour and six minutes, Medvedev broke Nagal’s serve twice in the first set and three times in the second set due to his strong serve and stroke. Earlier, Nagal had defeated Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in his first-round match. With this, Nagal became the third Indian tennis player to win the men’s singles event in 25 years at the Olympics.
The difference between the world-class player Medvedev and Nagal’s game was visible in this match. Nagal had a poor start and lost his serve in the first game by hitting a backhand in the net. After this, at match point in the second set, he lost the match by hitting a forehand shot outside the baseline on his serve. Nagal had no answer to Medvedev’s powerful shot from the baseline. The Indian player’s game was not enough to trouble a player far better than himself.
Earlier in the women’s doubles, the experienced Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina were knocked out in the first round by Ukraine’s twin sisters Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok by 0-6, 7-6, 10-8.